Art Books and Art Blog

Just so you know, I’m not dead, lost, imprisoned, or in a mental institute. I just needed a break and lots of ME time. Those that know me think I already have too much ME time, but I don’t think you can ever have enough of it

A blog is a greedy beast that is never satisfied and I just decided to stop feeding her for a few days, which turned into a few weeks. I guess I was angry at Art News Blog for making me feel responsible to her, but we have made up and resolved our issues.

So, things will now be back to normal or as normal as they can be.

While away I have been painting and reading books about painting, which has been great. I went on an art book buying spree at Amazon and spent hundreds of dollars. I created a wish list at Amazon and realized that if I didn’t buy the books for myself, they’re not going to magically appear on my bookshelf one day! I felt guilty after buying so many books at one time, but I loved hearing the delivery van pulling up out the front with more new books for three consecutive days!

Here’s a few of them.. (they’re afilliate links from Amazon as I have to feed my art book addiction somehow!)

The rest are mostly diary/journal/info/bio type books on or by artists like Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne and Mr Damien Hirst.

Comments

Thanks Dion. I actually did google your name to see if you were in the ‘news’ and involved in one of the scenarios you mentioned. By the way I’m a reader from Trinidad in the West Indies. Glad you’re ok. Hope your credit card isn’t overheating though

Glad you are back. Figure you were sunning yourself in teh Australian Spring, or snorkleing among whats left of your reefs.

We finally got some decent rains today. wondering if the hillsides are gonna turn to mudslides in the burn areas, but thats the outskirs of LA and doesnt affect many, not with 12 mil in the area.

I got a big art book collection from surfing the old used book tables for good reprographics at museums, though they cut msot of those out. And used book stores, Bertram Smiths in LBC had the biggest in the West, but evereything is Amazon now. Cant find good used books anymore. When some old coot with a good collection kicked it, would swoop like a vulture and swipe em all up.

No Morandi though, do have Tamayo, De Stael, Soulages, Diebenkorn, Bearden(Romaire), Dubuffet and other late moderns however. Twombly neverhas done anything for me though, how you like it?

Hope you are tanned and chasing them birds(chick, babes, is Sharons what you call em Down there? They does wonders for health and attitude. Too young to get hitched yet.

Yikes. You Brit types really need to get out into teh sun more, stretch out, smell the roses. Play a little ball, swim, fele your blood course through your veins. All the brit painters are obsesses with decay, death, rot, and sickness. Barcon, This Saville woman, Freud, al use bloodless colors, people with absolutley no muscle tone, or vitality. Decadent,

the smell of death haunts them, Guess what, we all die. Get over it. How about some living. Healthy bodies, sensual, erotic sometimes. Any age, hell my wife and I get carded for wine all the time, well, she does anyway, and we are in our forties. Use the namaste for yoga too, wife drug me over to a class recently, rather ride the bike, jump rope, sit ups, push ups, stretches at home, and got some weights, but gave up basketball. Might keel over at 49.Let the kids do it now, watch em on TV.

But really, why all the fascination with decay? is it the end of empire? Gayness, which most are, and fear of AIDS? We all die, my sons godfather died of AIDS but the world doesnt end. Live. What about Degas or Bonnard type women, hardly athletes, frail even, but still participate in life and actually enjoy it. I see no love of life here, just fear and obsession. Weird, just not our way I guess. Dont get the fascination.

Art is about and for life. Why worry about the inevitable? Immortality comes from leaving something taht betters life behind oneself, kids, business, friends, works.

Someday I will galdly give up the ghose, it will be time, and I have no fear of death, seen it too many times. But I do not welcome it, or love for it. I love living,it is precious, these people obviously dont.

Also very glad you’re back. I thought at first you were fully cured until, sadly, I read the outragous line in your post… “or by artists like Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne and Mr Damien Hirst”.

Clearly Mr D.H. has a very strong hold on his addicts but it is still no excuse for including the freak show performers name in a list of artists. With all these new art books you should know better by now. I think you need to spend more time with these new art books. Perhaps we could have a review of Matisse and/or Cezanne in a future blog?

I would love to check out the Morandi exhbition Art, but will have to be satisfied with the book.

I like the Cy Twombly book. To be honest I thought it was mostly his later works which I’m interested in, but it covers his whole career. Which I’m glad as I’m starting to like his earlier chicken scratches too, but will never love them. His work from the 90s through to today is why I really bought it.

I wasnt as impressed with the Jenny Saville book as I thought I would be as I wanted more paintings and less studio photos, but I’m still glad I bought it.

Death and decay is something that artists have always played with Donald. I like the topic, but yeah, I probably wouldnt hang too much of it on my walls as it might get a bit depressing.

Earl, I might review the Damien Hirst book just for you after I finish reading it He’s too much of a big fish to ignore, even if you hate his art/products. His art might be a bit dull and repetitive, but he’s a branding genius, which probably interests me more than anything he produces.

Sorry about the spammers, though I have been accused of being jsut such a abuser. Writing to teh LA Times not to use public monies to save a failed MoCA. Amazing how artistes always want other people to spend millions, but can raise anything besides donut(or tofu) money themselves. MAN cant even raise a thousand dollars for school art supplies, yet brags how he is getting more than the MoCA board can. Yeeeeahh, riiiiight. Talk about delusions.

I dont think of opinions as abuse Donald, it’s idiots that advertise stuff in their comments. This guy probably had a hundred links to his crappy sex and finance sites in each comment. If morons like that can call themselves human, I’m embarrassed for our species.

Helly, Euan Uglow does seem to labour over his paintings sometimes, but I think he should be much better known than he is. The best of him is as good as any other painter working from the model in the late 20th century. His book is my favorite of the ones I just bought AND the most bloody expensive!